THE report, "Job seekers who don't show up for interviews rile bosses" (my paper, March 31), highlights the apathy of today's job applicants in a tight labour market. Singaporeans seem to have forgotten about the difficulty of landing a job during the economic slowdown just a few years ago.

Then, competition for jobs was so keen that people would turn up for interviews way before the appointment time.

For walk-in interviews, job seekers would patiently queue for an hour or two before they finally saw the interviewer.

However, these sights are now history. It would be sad if the negative attitude of job seekers becomes the norm just because there are many jobs for them to pick and choose.

As a former human resource practitioner, I can understand the inconvenience caused by job applicants who do not show up for interviews - appointment times with other applicants, for example, have to be rescheduled as result.

There is nothing wrong for not attending a job interview as arranged, but the least the applicants could do is to inform the interviewer about it. This is basic courtesy.

Do we need another economic downturn to make job seekers realise the importance of being more responsible about interviews?

And when such a time comes, those job seekers with an attitude problem must not blame foreigners for taking up jobs that they once took for granted.

Mr Jeffrey Law Lee Beng

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